Discover: Ramps

• Ramps (Allium tricoccum), also known as spring onions (not UK scallion), ramson, wild leeks, wild garlic, and, in French, ail sauvage and ail des bois, is an early spring vegetable with a strong garlicky odor and a pronounced onion flavor. 
• A perennial member of the onion family (Alliaceae), the plant has broad, smooth, light green leaves, often with deep purple or burgundy tints on the lower stems, and a scallion-like stalk and bulb. 
• Both the white lower leaf stalks and the broad green leaves are edible.
• Ramps grow in groups strongly rooted just beneath the surface of the soil. 
• They are found from the U.S. state of South Carolina to Canada. 
• They are popular in the cuisines of the rural upland South and in the Canadian province of Quebec when they emerge in the springtime. 
• They have a growing popularity in upscale restaurants throughout North America.